Method for the production of profiled floor elements from a timber material

ABSTRACT

A method is described for the production of profiled floor elements from a timber material, comprising at least one covering flange protruding from a footing and having a rounded longitudinal edge, with the method proceeding on the basis of a pre-profiled floor element consisting of profiled floor elements connected along a longitudinal edge by means of a connecting land and the profiled floor elements being separated from each other by machining the connecting land on the profiled side opposing the visible side once a covering layer has been adhesively bonded to the pre-profiled floor element in the region of the visible sides of the subsequent profiled floor elements. In order to ensure advantageous production conditions, it is proposed that the strips of the covering layer corresponding to the individual profiled floor elements are adhesively bonded to the pre-profiled floor element, which forms a connecting land bridging the wedge-shaped recess between the rounded longitudinal edges on the side of the covering flange facing away from the visible side, and that the edge sections of the strips, which face each other and protrude into the wedge-shaped recess, are bent into the wedge-shaped recess between the rounded longitudinal edges of the covering flange and are adhesively bonded to the longitudinal edges before the connecting land is machined away on the underside of the covering flange.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a method for the production of profiled floorelements from a timber material. Said elements are provided with atleast one covering flange that has a rounded longitudinal edge andprojects from a footing. Said method commences with a pre-profiledelement consisting of profiled floor elements connected to each otheralong a longitudinal edge by means of a connecting land. The profiledfloor elements are separated from each other after a covering layer isadhesively bonded to the pre-profiled element in the area of the visiblesides of the subsequent profiled floor elements by machining theconnecting land on the side of the profiled element facing away from thevisible side.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

In order to reduce the production effort for the manufacture of profiledcovering strips coated on the visible side, a method is known (EP 0 862976 A1) which proceeds on the basis of a pre-profiled element thatcorresponds to at least two covering strips to be produced that join atone longitudinal edge of the visible side and are connected by means ofa connecting land on the side facing away from the visible side. Thepre-profiled element is coated on the profiled surface forming thejoined visible side before the connecting land is machined from the sidefacing away from the visible side and separated into individual coveringstrips. This known production method requires a continuous profiledsurface extending over the abutting joint area if the covering stripsare intended to be coated with a bonded masking film and is thereforenot suitable in this case for floor strips, the covering strips of whichproject from a footing and are provided with rounded longitudinal edgesthat produce a wedge-shaped recess in the region of the joint thatinterrupts the continuous profiled surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Consequently, the object of the invention is to create a method forproducing at least two profiled floor elements of the kind described atthe outset such that a covering layer can be adhesively bonded to thepre-profiled element in a simple manner despite the wedge-shaped recessproduced between the abutting longitudinal edges of the subsequentprofiled floor elements such that the visible side of the profiled floorelements obtained from the coated pre-profiled element are completelycoated.

The invention fulfils this aim by adhering the strips of the coveringlayer which correspond to the individual profiled floor elements to thepre-profiled element that forms a connecting land bridging thewedge-shaped recess between the rounded longitudinal edges on the sideof the covering flange facing away from the visible side, by bending theedge areas which face each other and extend into the wedge-shaped recessinto the wedge-shaped recess between the rounded longitudinal edges ofthe covering strip and by adhering them to the longitudinal edges beforethe connecting land on the underside of the covering flange is machinedaway.

As there is a separate strip of the covering layer with an edge sectionprojecting into the wedge-shaped recess between the rounded longitudinaledges of the profiled floor elements for each of the subsequent profiledfloor elements as a result of this action, these projecting edgesections can be bent into the wedge-shaped recesses and adhesivelybonded to the rounded longitudinal edges such that the entire visiblearea of the profiled floor elements, including the rounded longitudinaledges of the covering flange, can be coated with the covering layerbefore the connecting land bridging these longitudinal edges on the sidefacing the coating is machined away to separate the profiled floorelements that had been manufactured together until this time. It mustonly be ensured that the overhang of the edge sections of the coveringlayer strips projecting into the wedge-shaped recess is sufficient tocover the curvature of the longitudinal edges.

For this purpose, provision can be made for the connecting land of thepre-profiled element to connect the spatially separated longitudinaledges of the covering flange and for the covering layer extending acrossand beyond the wedge-shaped recess between the rounded longitudinaledges of the covering flange to be adhesively bonded to the pre-profiledelement before the covering layer is severed in the wedge-shaped recessto form strips and is pressed against and adhesively bonded to therounded longitudinal edges in a stripwise manner. Adhesively bonding acovering layer which is common to the profiled floor elements to becreated onto the pre-profiled element in a bridging manner providessimpler conditions for attaching the covering layer. However, provisionmust be made for a gap between the sides of the abutting longitudinaledges by widening the connecting land accordingly to ensure asufficiently wide edge area between these longitudinal edges for theindividual strips produced so that each of the individual longitudinaledge curvatures is covered after the covering layer has been severed inthe area of the wedge-shaped recess. However, widening the connectingland increases the volume to be machined away.

If the greater resultant utilisation of material is to be avoided, thestrips of the covering layer can be glued to each other onto thepre-profiled element in the wedge-shaped recess between the roundedlongitudinal edges of the edge sections overlapping the covering flangebefore the overlapping edge sections are bent into the wedge-shapedrecess and pressed onto the rounded longitudinal edges of the coveringflange. Overlapping the edge sections of the covering layer stripsprovides the width of the edge sections of the covering layer stripsprojecting into the wedge shaped recess that is required to cover thelongitudinal edge curvature, despite the directly abutting profiledfloor elements, so that the connecting land can be minimised.

Provision for a pre-profiled element from which two or more profiledfloor elements can be obtained results in advantageous conditions forautomated production in series because, among other things, thepre-profiled element has a greater inherent strength than individualprofiled elements and can also be conveyed better, especially if thepre-profiled element is provided with at least one guide groove in thearea of the connecting land between the profiled floor elements becausein this case the pre-profiled element can be conveyed along the guidegroove immediately before the connecting land is machined away,something which not only improves production precision, but also allowsan increase in the processing speed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The method in accordance with the invention will be described in moredetail with reference to the drawing.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of the profiled floor element to beproduced,

FIG. 2 shows a frontal view of a pre-profiled element for production oftwo pro filed floor elements in accordance with the invention,

FIGS. 3 to 9 show the production of two profiled floor elements as shownin FIG. 1 in accordance with the invention on the basis of consecutivemethodological steps,

FIG. 10 shows a representation of an embodiment of a pre-profiledelement corresponding to FIG. 2 for the production of profiled floorelements in accordance with FIG. 1,

FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show profiled floor element production with the aidof a pre-profiled element in accordance with FIG. 10 on the basis of twomethodological steps,

FIG. 13 shows a pre-profiled element for the production of a differentprofiled floor element in a representation corresponding to FIG. 2,

FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 show the production of profiled floor elements fromthe pre-profiled element in FIG. 13 on the basis of two methodologicalsteps,

FIG. 16 shows a frontal view of a pre-profiled element for theproduction of pre forms for a profiled floor element,

FIG. 17 shows a pre-profiled element coated with the covering layerbased on FIG. 16 in cross-section and

FIG. 18 shows a profiled floor element produced from a preform obtainedin accordance with FIG. 17 with the additional profiled elementsobtained from the preform.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The profiled floor element 1 to be produced in accordance with theembodiment shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a footing 4 that can beinserted into a floor track 2 in the gap between two floor elements 3and a covering flange 5 projecting from this footing 4 which laps overthe abutting floor elements 3. The visible side of the covering flange 5is provided with a covering layer 7 extending over its roundedlongitudinal edges 6 which can consist of a decorative film, a laminate,a veneer or similar and is adhesively bonded to the visible side of thecovering flange 5.

The production of such a profiled floor element 1 proceeds from apre-profiled element 8 consisting of a timber material as shown in FIG.2. This pre-profiled element 8 encompasses two profiled floor elements 1which abut in the region of their rounded longitudinal edges 6 and whichare bridged by a connecting land 9 on the underside of the coveringflange 5 facing away from the visible side, with said land forming twoparallel guide grooves 10 extending along the longitudinal axis of theprofiled element. In addition, provision is made for reinforcementallowances 11 in the area of the subsequent covering flange 5, which arealso provided with guide grooves 10.

A covering layer 7 is adhesively bonded to the pre-profiled element 8,specifically in two strips 12, the facing edge sections 13 of whichproject into the wedge shaped recess 14 between the rounded longitudinaledges 6 of the sub-sequent profiled floor elements 1 and overlap eachother, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. This overlapping is required toachieve the width of the edge sections 13 corresponding to the arclength of the curvature of the longitudinal edges 6 and thereforecompletely covering the rounded longitudinal edges 6. In accordance withFIG. 4, of the two strips 12 of the covering layer 7 provided with anadhesive, the strip closest to the pre-profiled element 8 is adhesivelybonded to the pre-profiled element 8 first by means of a pressure roller15, before the edge sections 13 of this strip 12 projecting over therounded longitudinal edges 6 are pressed onto and adhesively bonded tothe rounded longitudinal edges 6 of the pre-profiled element with theassistance of profiled rollers 16 in accordance with FIG. 5. At the sametime, the other strip 12 of the covering layer 7 can be adhesivelybonded to the pre-profiled element 8 by means of a pressure roller 15 inorder to then adhere the overlapping edge sections 13 to the roundedlongitudinal edges 6 by means of profiled rollers 16 in the same manneras the strips 12 previously adhesively bonded. In accordance with FIG.7, provision can be made for an additional forming roller 17 to improvepressing of the edge sections 13 of the strips 12 bent into the wedgeshaped recess 14 onto the rounded longitudinal edges 6 in their abuttingjoint area.

After the visible sides of the subsequent profiled floor elements 1 havebeen coated with the strips 12 of the covering layer 7, the connectingland 9 and the reinforcement allowances 11 in the region of the coveringflange 5 can be machined away. It is advantageous if this machining canprecede trimming of the edge sections 13 of the strips 12 on the outersides of the pre-profiled element 8, as indicated in FIG. 8. For thispurpose, the pre-profiled element 8 with the adhesive covering layer 7is pressed onto a guide rule 19 with the assistance of a hold-downroller 18, with said guide rule 19 having guiding ridges which mesh withthe guide grooves 10 of the pre-profiled element 8. Lateral trimmers 20are positioned on the pre-profiled element conveyed in this manner, withthe help of which the outer edge sections 13 of the adhesive coveringlayer 7 can be worked with the requisite precision. As depicted in FIG.9, the profiled floor elements 1 are then separated from thepre-profiled element 8 by machining away the connecting land 9 and thereinforcement allowances 11, specifically with the aid of acorrespondingly profiled stock cutter 21 that can be supplemented by asaw blade 22. The pre-profiled element 8 running from the guide rule 19to the stock cutter 21 is supported in the working zone of the stockcutter by the hold-down rollers 23 corresponding to the two profiledfloor elements 1. This guides system makes it possible to work thepre-profiled element 8 and the two profiled floor elements 1 precisely,even at higher work speeds.

Furthermore, a pre-profiled element 8 corresponding to that depicted inFIG. 10 can also be used as the basis for producing a profiled floorelement 1 such as that as shown in FIG. 1. The pre-profiled element 8 inFIG. 10 only differs from that in FIG. 2 by the fact that the roundedlongitudinal edges 6 facing each other on the two subsequent profiledfloor elements 1 are arranged with a gap between their sides within thepre-profiled element 8, resulting in a wider connecting land 9 betweenthe longitudinal edges 6 in comparison with FIG. 2. The larger gapbetween the two profiled floor elements 1 permits the covering layer 7to be applied to the pre-profiled element 8 in one piece, bridging thewedge-shaped recess 14 produced between the rounded longitudinal edges6, and the covering layer applied to be subsequently separated into twostrips 12, as can be seen in FIG. 11, where a cutting tool ‘s’ isindicated accordingly. The edge sections 13 of the strips 12 obtainedafter separation and which project into the wedge-shaped recess 14 aresufficiently wide, due to the enlarged gap between the longitudinaledges 6 facing each other, for the full arc length of the curvature ofthe longitudinal edges 6 to be able to be covered.

Consequently, in some cases only the connecting land 9 and thereinforcement allowances 11 need to be machined away after trimming ofthe edge sections 13 of the outer covering flange 5 in the pre-profiledelement 8 in order to obtain to profiled floor elements 1 in accordancewith FIG. 1. In FIG. 12 the areas to be machined off are indicated bythe cross hatching.

Of course, the production method in accordance with the invention can beemployed for differently profiled floor elements as the important aspectis not the form of each profiled element, but the fact that the profiledfloor elements are provided with a minimum of one covering flange 5 witha rounded longitudinal edge 6. To illustrate this point, FIG. 13 shows apre-profiled element 8 for the production of profiled floor elements 1for a step. After the covering layer 7 in the form of two strips 12overlapping each other in the wedge shaped recess 14 are adhesivelybonded in accordance with FIGS. 3 and 4, their edge sections are bentinto the wedge shaped recess 14 corresponding with FIG. 5 to 7 and areadhesively bonded to the rounded longitudinal edges 6 of the coveringflange 5. As the shoulder 24 of the profiled floor element 1 overlapsthe riser, the outer edge section 13 of the strips 12 of the coveringlayer 7 must be guided around the visible side of this shoulder 24. Thismeans that a machining allowance 25 on the inner side of this shoulder24 facilitates trimming of the covering layer 7 in this edge sectionwhen this machining allowance is machined off, as indicated by the crosshatched area in FIG. 14. Following this, the connecting land 9 can bemachined off in accordance with FIG. 15 in order to finish the twoprofiled floor elements 1 and to separate them from each other.

Preforms of the profiled floor elements 1 can also be produced using theproduction method in accordance with the invention, as shown in FIG. 16to 18. The preforms 26 which are indicated by dash-dotted lines in thepre-profiled element 8 in FIG. 16, are coated on the visible side with acovering layer 7 from the pre-profiled element 8 corresponding to FIG. 3to 7. In order to separate the pre-forms 26 from the pre-profiledelement 8 provided with the covering layer 7, the connecting land 9between the two preforms 26 must be machined off in accordance with thecross hatched area in FIG. 17 before the profiled floor element 1 andthe two additional profiled elements 27 can be produced from the preform26 obtained in this manner in accordance with FIG. 18, specifically by asimple parting cut along the cutting plane 28 indicated by thedash-dotted lines. Similar to FIG. 1, the profiled floor element 1produced from the preforms 26 has a footing 4 and a covering flange 5projecting from the footing 4, with rounded longitudinal edges 6. Theadditional profiled elements 26, which could be used together with theprofiled floor element 1, are also covered with the covering layer 7 ontheir visible surface.

1: Method for the production of profiled floor elements (1) from atimber material, said elements having at least one covering flange (5)with a rounded longitudinal edge (6) and said flange projecting from afooting (4), with said method proceeding on the basis of a pre-profiledelement (8) consisting of profiled floor elements (1) connected to eachother along a longitudinal edge (6) by means of a connecting land (9),with said profiled floor elements (1) being separated from each otherafter a covering layer (7) is adhesively bonded to the pre-profiledelement (8) in the area of the visible sides of the subsequent profiledfloor elements (1) by machining the connecting land (9) on the side ofthe profiled element facing away from the visible side, wherein thestrips (12) of the covering layer (7) corresponding to the individualprofiled floor elements (1) are adhesively bonded to the pre-profiledfloor element (8), which forms a connecting land (9) bridging thewedge-shaped recess (14) between the rounded longitudinal edges (6) onthe side of the covering flange (5) facing away from the visible side,and the edge sections (13) of said strips, which face each other andprotrude into the wedge-shaped recess (14), are bent into thewedge-shaped recess (14) between the rounded longitudinal edges (6) ofthe covering flange (5) and are adhesively bonded to the longitudinaledges (6) before the connecting land (9) is machined away on theunderside of the covering flange (5). 2: Method in accordance with claim1, wherein the strips (12) of the covering layer (7) are adhesivelybonded onto the pre-profiled element (8) in the wedge-shaped recess (14)between the rounded longitudinal edges (6) of the edge sections (13)overlapping the covering flange (5) before the overlapping edge sections(13) are bent into the wedge-shaped recess (14) and pressed onto thelongitudinal edges (6) of the covering flange (5). 3: Method inaccordance with claim 1, wherein the connecting land (9) of thepre-profiled element (8) connects the spatially separated longitudinaledges (6) of the covering flange (5) and the covering layer (7) extendsacross and beyond the wedge-shaped recess (14) between the roundedlongitudinal edges (6) of the covering flange (5) to be adhesivelybonded to the pre-profiled element (8) before the covering layer (7) issevered in the wedge-shaped recess (14) to form strips (12) and ispressed against and adhesively bonded to the rounded longitudinal edges(6) in a stripwise manner. 4: Method in accordance with claim 1, whereinthe pre-profiled element (8) provided with at least one guide groove(10) in the area of the connecting land (9) between the profiled floorelements (1) is promoted along the guide groove (10) during the courseof machining work.